Web Site Message Board

I am interested in knowing how other BOD's regulate the use of a community web site message board. Rules & regs., disclaimer., etc. This is for a Florida HOA that is presently debating the addition to the web site.

Yes, a forum type board where owners can post questions and issues and receive response from other owners.

Well, we have such a board on our website, as it allows us to comply with VA law.
In all honesty, we have 3 members on it and I'm one of them.

It's just not utilized by the membership. If it wasn't the way we comply with our state statute, I'd get rid of it.

David:
I would avoid putting a forum on your web site. My condominium community uses Google Groups. You sometimes do get some nasty things on the site but better such things be out in the open so everyone can comment on them than a secret rumor going around the community. Most often, someone comes on and defends or explains a Board action being questioned. And people who don't care at all ask to be removed from the group. In general, I think the back and forth has brought the community closer together.
Jeanne

We have such and if the Board member feels that any posting is "negative" against the Board then they delete the post. It doesn't matter if someone is asking an honest question or has a legitimate concern. For that reason, I agree with others that message boards are not a good idea. It goes both ways- you could have homeowners posting their rants and you can have Board members acting like paranoid website Nazis. Because my Association falls into the latter, nobody bothers to use the message board.

Nextdoor.com works really really well. My community has an account and it's private for owners only. We don't do Facebook or the traditional web forums, only Nextdoor and a website (that allows email messaging to the property manager).

I get the impression that David already has the vendor they want for the forum. He is simply looking for copies of posting rules and disclaimers that others use on their forums.

David,

My Forum is open. This initially caused me a lot of work banning overseas spammers. Therefore, you may want to make your forum for members of the Association and/or residents only. This could minimize a lot of the spam that is posted.

As a disclaimer, we simply say that all comments are that of members and may not the official position of the Board. Anyone interested in the official position of the Board on a topic should contact the Board directly or review the governing documents of the Association.

As for rules, keep it simple. The posting rules on this site are fairly simple, few in number and straight to the point. I'd suggest something like that.

For another option, simply do a web search for Association web sites in your State and see what they are using.

Hi David:

If you want to add to your current website I would make that forum area a back end area where the members have to sign in to post and the items are not public such as utilized by the Nextdoor.com website. You can either add to your own current website or set up an account with another website offering such amenities.

As Tim stated keep the rules simple such as 1) Please show your neighbors the same respect you would want to recieve yourself when posting, 2) No foul language allowed and any postings with foul language will be deleted, etc.

The alternative would be for members to set up a Facebook page or other social media page; however, keep in mind most of those type media pages are public information open to the world wide web.

Hi Richard:

I understand that fact and which is why I stated: "If you want to add to your current website I would make that forum area a back end area where the members have to sign in to post and the items are not public such as utilized by the Nextdoor.com website". I have a degree in Internet Technology and have designed many websites. Nextdoor is private and while I have not yet utilized that site their concept is a great idea.

Does anyone care that these "privIte" sites are businesses that are saving and sorting through your (and your neighbors') private information and discussions to exploit and to make money with it; likely advertising like many things that are offered for free on the web?

Thank you one and all for your input. As I suspected, there are considerable points of opinion on this subject. I will have to consider this addition to our website further.

We have a managed web site that includes a forum. Like many HOA we were having a hard time getting people to participate in meetings and other activities. We used the website to try and get people together and interested in their neighborhood. We are a small subdivision of less than 100 homes. We knew we would not get 100% participation but we do have 60% of the neighborhood using the website including realtors. We also have had some local companies sponsor the website and this generates some monies that help pay for it.
We have not had any negative activities in the forum. One feature that has really been useful is a feature that allows a member to send out a comment or question directly to the Board members that only the Board members can see.

My understanding is that the income from the website could be offset by the expense of the website, and tax would only be paid on the excess.

Our management company actually asked us to not use anything on the internet besides email to address homeowners concerns. We have a facebook (although the board has pretty much abandoned it because it is pretty much run by instigator homeowners) and we have a nextdoor. Those are fine for finding walking buddies and babysitters, selling things, etc. But they are not to be used for official communications for several reasons.
1. The management company likes to keep a paper trail in case a homeowner comes back and says we are not dealing with something.
2. If you have one neighbor who likes to stir the pot, it will turn into a gigantic mess soon enough. That was pretty much the straw that broke the camel's back for us. As an example, our S#%@ stirrer has told people that they didn't have to comply with violation letters and she also told everyone to drop their studs-in insurance policies and just use the HOA's insurance policy for claims. She has also encouraged personal attacks on board members.

It just isn't worth it. You don't have documentation if something goes wrong and it's too easy for folks to get riled up over nonsense. Make yourselves available, but don't make yourselves vulnerable.

Laura,

Facebook sucks as a means to communicate information. I participate in several Facebook groups but have abandoned some others. It just does not work if you need to keep things in some sort of order.

My owners association for rural parcels has gone through several websites. The one that has run longest was started about 15 years ago and is run by a former board member; it is not an official site. Since only about 10% of the members live with in the community and the rest are scattered all over the world, it works to keep everyone informed by means of a forum-type format. The owner of that forum takes great care to limit access to bona fide owners and all posts are made with our real names. For whatever reasons, most of the board members have taken to boycotting this forum as they get peppered with the same issues online that were discussed in the board meetings.

Another person tried a similar forum but allowed the use of screen names. That site imploded when "Ranch Dude" started accusing others of real estate swindles. Of course, no one knows who Ranch Dude is/was.

Our association has had two official websites go south. The first was established, owned, and designed by one of our former presidents, who does web design for a living. When we changed management companies several years ago part of the deal was that we would get a new website. The former president took offense at that statement and took our "official" website down.

The then-new management company supplied us with a first class website that allowed us to check our account statuses online, to view announcements, to post messages or photos, or to email board members. Unfortunately, our board has recently devolved into rival camps and the management company terminated the contract and pulled the plug on "our" website.

My advice to anyone wanting an official website for their association is that the HOA own the site and all the content so that it does not disappear when someone gets their nose out of joint. A forum type of discussion board is desirable but only if the posts are limited to bona fide members using their real names. The site should also have areas for official announcements, official documents, account inquiries, and making online payments.